Super Stealth Plane Breaks Through Cost Barrier

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Super Stealth Plane Breaks Through Cost Barrier

The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing today on the future of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, and things are not looking pretty for the next-generation stealth aircraft. It's likely the Air Force will have to declare the program has soared past a key cost-containment barrier, in addition to being more than two years behind schedule.

A new Government Accountability Office report, issued today, puts it in simple numbers. "Total estimated acquisition costs have increased $46 billion (.pdf) and development extended 2 ½ years, compared to the program baseline approved in 2007," the report states.

The cost per plane has risen dramatically as well: The unit cost has ballooned to $112 million per aircraft. When the "system development" phase began in October 2001, the cost was reckoned at $69 million per plane.

Aerospace journalist Bill Sweetman, who was live-blogging the hearing at Ares, notes that the average procurement cost has spiked 18 percent, just within the past three years. Poking fun at some old talking points from manufacturer Lockheed Martin, he writes: "Maybe Lockheed Martin will [stop using silly numbers](http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/aeronautics/mediacenter/mediakits/f35/F-35FastFacts01142010.pdf "LockMart Fast "Facts"") in public now."

The cost figures are particularly important, considering that the F-35 was supposed to be a relatively affordable jet that would serve as the backbone of military aviation for decades to come. Michigan Sen. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, made it clear that legislators were losing patience with the program.

"This raises great concern, not only about the potential for a Nunn-McCurdy breach now, but for continuing problems with the JSF program," he said in a statement. "This Committee has been a strong supporter of the JSF program from the beginning. However, people should not conclude that we will be willing to continue that strong support without regard to increased costs coming from poor program management, or from a lack of focus on affordability. We cannot sacrifice other important acquisitions in the DOD investment portfolio to pay for this capability."